Meaning & Origins

(French) diminutive form of Nina. Like Nadine, this was one of the names brought to the English-speaking world from Russian via French in the early 20th century, and was famously borne by the ballerina, choreographer, and founder of the Royal Ballet, Ninette de Valois (1898–2001, born Edris Stannus).

English and Scottish: occupational name for a maker of objects of wood, metal, or bone by turning on a lathe, from Anglo-Norman French torner (Old French tornier, Latin tornarius, a derivative of tornus ‘lathe’). The surname may also derive from any of various other senses of Middle English turn, for example a turnspit, a translator or interpreter, or a tumbler.